Her face was set in lines of rebellion, her expression daring him to say she disappointed him. It would be a relief to her, a confirmation of what she feared he would do once he found out about her past. Then she wouldn’t have to fear it anymore. His disgust she knew how to deal with but the fear of his reaction left her vulnerable and that left her angry. He could feel it all in her.
As the knowledge washed through him, he felt the darkness ease. The fury of the beast subsided in the face of his mate’s pain. In its place came an awareness of her, of the feel of her slight body against his, of the hot and sweet smell of her blood. Gabe reached down to grab her hand and slide her bleeding finger into his mouth, gently folding his tongue around the tip. At the taste of her, his cock jerked and pressed into her belly. She tasted so sweet, and he inhaled her shocked gasp, his eyes gliding closed. His hunger was getting out of control, his reactions more volatile the longer he went without her blood. God, he needed her. Had needed her last night – the sweet, slick heat of her pussy drenching him in her desire, the way her body seemed to clench desperately around his cock as though she was as hungry as he was, as though it hadn’t been nearly enough.
“Well. I can see he won’t be needing my bed.”
Tala gasped. “Gram!”
Kel jerked her hand free and folded her fingers into her palm, pressed her fist to her thigh. Her glittering eyes watched him with equal parts heat and wariness.
Sliding his eyes from hers he turned to face the older woman, one blond brow cocking up at the knife that threatened him.
Tala was standing back with her hands clenched together over her chest. The knife she had been using was floating in the air just in front of him, the business end no more than a foot from his chest. More Elementals.
“I don’t think that’ll be necessary, my dear.” Mae gave a wave of her hand and the knife resettled back on the cutting board. Her silver eyes seemed to pierce him. “I doubt Kel’s orphan has any intention of harming her.”
Gabe nodded. “Of course not. She’s my bloodmate.”
Tala gasped, slapping her hands over her mouth.
Kel made a frustrated sound. “Says you.”
Mae tilted her head. “Did you share blood?”
Kel cast a look at him and looked away. He felt the faint echo of her hurt reach him and he knew she was thinking of his preventing her from blooding him last night.
“Enough.” Gabe answered for her.
The old woman narrowed her eyes at the exchange but continued. “Then says his instincts. A force, I fear, you will not win against.” She handed Kel a glass jar, then waved her hands at Tala. “Let’s finish lunch, my dear. The girls will be upon us in moments.”
Kel led him to a chair that was away from the windows and any more damaging sun and pushed him down. Standing over him, she opened the jar and slapped it on the table. When she motioned to him, he lifted one large hand and put it into hers. Her touch was soft and cool as she dipped into the jar and carefully applied the glittering salve to first one and then the other hand.
Her dark eyes studied him for a long moment.
“Next time say something. I don’t work with many full-bloods and I’m not used to worrying about the sun.” Her words were softly admonishing.
“You don’t have sun allergies?”
She shook her head. “Nope. I’m a beach bum when I have the time.”
She stepped between his knees and he widened them further to make room for her, the very large bulge of his cock blatant. He watched her carefully, studying her reaction to him.
Pulling at his shirt collar to get a closer look at his neck and collarbone, she scooped up more salve and gently laved it over his burns. Her slick fingers smoothed over his skin. He looked up and her dark eyes were fixed intently on his chest, her fingers feeling more like a caress as they swept slowly up and down his exposed collarbone.
Immediately his cock jerked, responding to the change in her touch, and he felt that telling tingle in his gums. He flattened his hand over hers, pressing her palm to his chest. “How long were you in that home?”
Her warm breath ruffled the top of his head as she sighed. He could feel her resigned irritation. “Long enough. Tala and I ran away.”
“How’d you end up at Incog?”
One of her cheeks rose just a bit in a tiny smile. “Mae had hired Incog to find Tala. When Kye found us I came along for the ride. Not sure why he took such an interest in me but he did. Forced me to finish school.” She shrugged.
There was a wealth of emotion in that casual lift of her small shoulder. He didn’t need their connection to see that. Mae and Kyeros had done so much more for her than bring her “along for the ride.” They’d saved her. For him.
Kel cleared her throat and stepped away from him. “Well, that should do it.” Then her head jerked up and a beautiful smile broke over her face as it sounded like a herd of elephants were crashing down the house. “Here they come.”
Those elephants appeared in the kitchen in the shape of young girls, as young as seven or eight and as old as high school age. They burst through the doors, screeching Kel’s name as they saw her. She seemed very familiar with each of them, ruffling hair and asking them about school and various extracurricular activities they must participate in.
She paid particular interest in a sullen girl with light brown hair and deep blue eyes. The girl seemed very agitated. Kel took her aside while the other girls filled their plates with sandwiches and fresh-cut fruit.
Gabe frowned as Kel examined the girl’s fingers and tilted her face back to stare down into her face. This girl must be Madison, the one close to the “change.” He could sense the Sanguen blood in her and obviously Kel recognized the Guardian. She whispered to her and the girl nodded, her blue eyes glossy from tears she struggled not to shed.
Finally, Kel led her to the counter and got her a plate with three sandwiches on it. This seemed to embarrass the girl because she flushed, cut him a look, and shook her head. Kel’s eyes met his across the expanse of the kitchen and she smiled. Whatever she said next had the girl giggling and shooting another look at him. He suspected that giggle was at his expense but the young girl took the plate and scampered out of the kitchen.
Gabe raised a suspicious brow at Kel. “What was that about?”
The smile she turned on him was pure mischief as she reached out, snatched an empty plate off the counter, and thrust it at him. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
She grabbed a plate and began piling food on it, casually tossing fresh-cut fruits and vegetables on his as he stood next to her, just watching her. She was so unexpected. One moment fragile and rebellious, the next nurturing and mischievous.
They ate together amid giggling and bickering. Once they were finished they headed out to the back yard that was surrounded by a high fence. One of the girls produced a soccer ball, and they quickly separated into two teams. Kel and Tala faced off, and everyone laughed when Kel used her strength to kick the ball but Tala stopped it in midflight and sent it flying back without so much as touching it. Kel accused her of being a “dirty rotten cheater” and Tala quickly responded by calling Kel an “Amazon warrior woman.” The girls seemed to enjoy the bantering between the two adults.
Gabe stood back in the shade of the awning that extended over the small patio, carefully avoiding the sun.
Mae appeared in the door and offered Gabe a sweating glass of juice. “They are like sisters. My first girls.”
Accepting the glass Gabe nodded. “They lived in the home together?”
Silver eyes carefully appraised him and then she sighed. “Those two years were the worst of my life. Tala is my only grandchild and it pained me to know that my own daughter was so willing to dispose of her. Kel protected her the best she could, you know.” Mae lowered her small frame into a chair on the shaded patio. “I’m just grateful they had each other. She’ll be difficult. She won’t come easy.”
Gabe looked down at the woman, but she was staring off into the yard, watching the game.
Mae turned to look at him, her expression serious. “But if you can manage to win her you have all of her all the way. Forever. There is no halfway in that girl.”
Gabe nodded, his eyes colliding into Kel’s across the field with a little rush of pleasure. The question was, how did he win her?
IT WAS JUST past sunset when they left Haven House. Kel made Mae and Tala promise to keep Madison within their sights at all times and to walk the girls to and from school every day. They’d shimmered back to Incog, and Gabe had insisted on driving her home.
She’d tried to convince him she could return to her apartment on her own but he’d insisted on delivering her safely to her front door. Kel wasn’t buying his chivalry act, though. She suspected he just wanted to be able to shimmer directly to her apartment if the need struck. She told him as much but his lips only tipped up in one corner, his eyes concealed by the dark glasses.
“They should be able to tell us something about the body of that little girl by tomorrow.” Kel said it softly as he pulled into a space in her apartment parking garage, but it still sounded cold and ugly in the darkness of the car and something in her shrank.
Immediately she felt him moving inside her, his looming presence warming and comforting her. Is this what it meant to be bonded? Would there be no part of her that remained her own? Already her body seemed to belong to him, responding to just the sound of his voice or the scent of his arousal.
Without thought she pulled herself deeper, away from his presence in her.
Gabe reached out to tilt her face up to his. Pulling the glasses off he frowned down at her. “It is futile to fight it.”
Kel met his green gaze. There was no give in her. She met everything head-on, but she was not above a little evasion in this case. She felt trapped in her own body and that took a little time to get used to.
“I didn’t ask for this, and I need time to process what ‘this’ means for me.”
Kel swallowed, her eyes falling to his lips and the pale points of his canines. The bite from crazy Karl had been excruciatingly painful. What would it feel like to be blooded by Gabe? To feel his fangs sink into her flesh and the warmth of his lips against her skin? Her own gums tingled and she ran her tongue over the aching area absently. Did he crave her bite like she did his? What would it feel like to bleed him, to feel the heat of him flowing across her tongue? It was a craving she could hardly control anymore. The flesh between her legs grew moist and hot, her core clenching around the aching emptiness. A little tremor shook her.
Instinctively she knew it would be an experience that would completely change her. She couldn’t be his mate. There was nothing of her to give him. Theirs would be an empty parody of a bond. And she could never return with him to the Ferrar complex. She’d vowed to herself, all those years ago, that she would never go back. It was a promise she’d made as she had lain in her own blood at the Triumvirate home.
“I would never hurt you.” His words whispered against her jaw as he lowered his head to brush his lips against her cheek. His hot breath fanned the shell of her ear and she gasped at the shiver of sensation that streaked through her.
“You don’t bear his mark.” His fingers trailed over her neck.
Kel swallowed. “I’m a quick healer.
This was getting carried away, especially since his ultimate goal was to have her for dinner. At least his dinner invitation was a hell of a lot more pleasant than crazy Karl’s had been. Gabe tempted her. He’d held back last night, forced her to hold back. She wasn’t sure why but now she was more drawn to him than ever.
That scared her more than the bite itself.
Kel pushed the car door open and jumped out. It occurred to her she was being a bit erratic, and she made herself calmly shut the door and meet his eyes over the hood when he rose from the car.
“Well, this is my stop. I’ll see you back at Incog Monday.” Okay, that sounded a bit squeaky. One golden brow cocked up at her in a way that said he knew she was running. She closed her eyes against the need that shook through her. “Back off. Just back off. It’s all too much.”
Yet not enough.
When she opened her eyes she could see a strange warmth in his green gaze. It affected her in a way that she didn’t dare examine too closely. In another moment she’d be sticking an apple in her mouth and offering herself up to him like a stuffed pig.
And he knew it.
Backing up with a little shake of her head and a frown she turned to shimmer to her apartment but paused. Her instincts were damn good and at that moment they were screaming at her. Something wasn’t right. Her highly evolved eyesight scanned the garage. It was too dark. A quick glance confirmed the lights around the elevator had been shattered.
She scented the air and smelled the stinky bastards just as they appeared.
Kel wanted to kick herself in the ass. She should have smelled the unwashed Sanguen thugs from inside the car. If she hadn’t been so preoccupied with Gabe she would have. He was becoming a serious liability. Four of the knife-carrying skunks circled behind him where he lounged against the open door of the rental car, seeming almost bored. Two more stood in front of the elevator against the car behind her.
The two men behind her suddenly shimmered next to her, one grabbing her by the arms. She felt the prick of a needle in her neck. The man holding her shimmered, but she managed to knock the other one back before he shimmered. The hypodermic still protruded from her neck. She reached up and yanked it out and glanced down at the mostly spent hypodermic in her hand. Swaying slightly, she raised her eyes and met Gabe’s across the parking garage in confusion.
“Kill the marshal.” One of the Sanguen growled, his eyes fixed on Gabe. “He wants the woman left alive.”
She felt hands wrap around her upper arms and she was jerked up between two unwashed bodies. Kel wrinkled her nose.
What the hell was going on here?
With a roar, Gabe shimmered to the hood of the car, two long wicked blades in his hands. His eyes bore into the two men on either side of her, that strange flickering of red around his pupils. There were four men circling him, but he didn’t seem to notice or care.